Darrell Wallace Jr. Wins Kroger 200 at Martinsville Speedway

Getty Images/NASCAR

MARTINSVILLE, VA – RIS – Darrell Wallace Jr. in the throwback #34 Wendell Scott number and paint scheme  started from the pole position for the Kroger 200 race at the historic half mile Martinsville Speedway and he finished in the same position for his third victory of 2014 and fourth victory in 41 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races.

Standard procedure for wrecks and cautions prevailed under typical short track action. There was a race total of 11 cautions for 71 of the 200 total laps.

Caution number one flew from lap 4 to lap 7 for #9 Brennan Newberry when he spun in the middle of turn one and two.  The other trucks avoided the truck as it sat momentarily in the turn but then Newberry was able to restart the truck and continue on in the race.

Darrell Wallace Jr. continued to lead the field on the restart. Timothy Peters (#17) was second but then Matt Crafton (#88) slipped into the inside lane and then proceeded to pull ahead of Peters and into second position.  Ryan Blaney in the #29 Ford moved around Wallace for second position as they started lapping the slower trucks in the field.

Caution #2 flew on lap #27 for excessive amounts of fluid on the track. On the restart, Bubba Wallace pushed by Ryan Blaney and then Blaney lost positions as he was punched to the outside line.

On lap 42, Matt Crafton made a charge for the lead past Bubba Wallace and pulled ahead for the lead.

Caution #3 flew as Jennifer Jo Cobb spun in turn 4. Caution #4 was for an accident by 0 and 33 in turn 4. Caution #5 was for an accident in turn 1 involving four trucks. Caution #6 was for debris on the backstretch.

Caution #7 flew for frontstretch debris on lap 127.  Darrell Wallace Jr. led the field with #98 Johnny Sauter in second. None of the lead trucks pitted during this caution period.    The restart on lap 149 after the caution had Darrell Wallace Jr. leading again and pulling in front of #98 Johnny Sauter.

One lap later, on lap 150, there was a huge and hard hit into the turn one wall by #05 John Wes Townley and #33 Brandon Jones.  Townley had contact with #19 Tyler Reddick and then everything broke loose as Townley and Jones caught air during the slamming.  The race was red flagged and the trucks stopped in turn four on lap 151 as the trucks of Townley and Jones were removed from the track and fluid was cleaned from turn one. Both drivers were evaluated in the care center and released. Twenty five trucks remained on the lead lap at this juncture of the race.  The top five running order was #34 Wallace Jr.,     # 98 Sauter, #51 Erik Jones, #17 Timothy Peters, and #77 German Quiroga.

Just a few green flap laps were run until the caution flag flew for a spin by #20 Gray Gaulding in turn two. When the green flag waved again, 35 laps remained and #34 Darrell Wallace Jr. continued to hold the lead with Johnny Sauter on his bumper in second position.  Sauter attacked Wallace Jr. but the running positions remained constant with 29 laps remaining.

On lap 184, Johnny Sauter pulled inside the #34 of Darrell Wallace Jr. and pushed ahead to take the race lead.  German Quiroga in the #77 had worked his way into third position. On lap 187, Quiroga took it four wide on the back stretch as he took his truck hot and fast to the inside of the leaders but then spun around in the middle of the field.  Darrell Wallace Jr. was able to make it through and retake the lead from Johnny Sauter.  With ten laps remaining, and the field under caution, the running positions were #34 Wallace Jr., #98 Johnny Sauter, #17 Timothy Peters, #51 Erik Jones and #88 Matt Crafton.

The green flag flew with six laps remaining.  Wallace Jr. took the lead with Sauter in second. With five laps remaining, eight trucks were running nose to tail but Wallace pulled ahead for the lead. With three laps remaining, Johnny Sauter was rooted to the outside by #17 Timothy Peters.  Sauter was pushed to the outside and he dropped to seventh at the finish.

Darrell Wallace Jr. in the #34 Wendell Scott tribute paint job won the race and honored the racing pioneer who will be a 2015 NASCAR HOF inductee.  Timothy Peters in the #17 Red Horse Racing Toyota also matched his starting position. Peters started second and finished second.  For added short track excitement, Johnny Sauter pulled up to Timothy Peters post-race to express his displeasure at being moved out of the preferred inside line and subsequently dropping back for a worse than anticipated finish.  Peters later admitted that the bump move was intentional because it was short track Martinsville and he also wanted to win.

The top ten finishing positions were Darrell Wallace Jr., Timothy Peters, Matt Crafton, Erik Jones, Ryan Blaney, Tyler Reddick, Johnny Sauter, Matt Tifft, Alex Guernette and German Quiroga.  Another local driver, Jeb Burton finished 13th.

Matt Crafton leads the points by 18 over Ryan Blaney.  The top five in points are Crafton, Blaney, Darrell Wallace Jr. (-22), Johnny Sauter (-40) and Timothy Peters (-77).

The next race in the series will be under the lights at Texas Motor Speedway on Friday night October 31.

Ed Turner

Staff Writer and editor for RIS since 2001. Been attending NASCAR and stock car races since my dad starting taking me in 1960 at the age of 5.

Read More on Cup / XFINITY / Truck news
Volume 2014, Issue 10, Posted 4:55 PM, 10.25.2014